John Brotchie Nursery School€¦ · purposeful and thoughtful in their decisions and actions. “At John Brotchie , educators are responsive to all the children’s strengths, abilities

At John Brotchie Nursery School the children will feel safe and cared for. They will have the

opportunity to develop confidence and creativity in a social environment. The children will learn

through a play-based curriculum, which is stimulating, challenging and meaningful to their

current interests, strengths and abilities.

John Brotchie Nursery

School is a Department of

Education (DoE) School.

DoE employs the teach-

ing staff and provides

funding for the resources

and implementation of the

educational program, as

well as funding to assist

with the inclusion of chil-

dren with special needs.

The Nursery School was

opened in 1949 by a

group of local citizens

and was managed by the

John Brotchie Memorial

Nursery School Manage-

ment Committee and in

2009 we celebrated 60

years of providing a pre-

school service to families

within The City of Botany

Bay.

About our preschool…...

National Quality Standards...

The core principles of our educational philosophy here at John Brotchie Nursery School are based on building and

nurturing relationships, curriculum decision-making and teaching & learning.

Our philosophy and curriculum is based on the principles and practices of the Early Years Learning Framework for

Australia. The framework is used by early childhood educators to develop learning programs responsive to children’s

ideas, interests, strengths and abilities and recognises children learn best through their play. For more information

visit: www.deewr.gov.au/earlychildhood

Our daily curriculum includes both indoor and outdoor experiences, teacher led language and music group times,

child initiated play and teacher led small group experiences. The children will be involved in a variety of play provi-

sions that will develop their interest, understanding and skills in literacy, numeracy, fine motor, gross motor and crea-

tivity.

Handbook for 2021

John Brotchie Nursery School

We are licensed by the

Department of Education

and Communities and will

be assessed and rated by

Australian Children’s

Education and Care

Authority under the new

National Quality

Standards.

The building is owned

and maintained by

Bayside Council.

The National Quality Standards (NQS) sets a high, national benchmark for early child-

hood services. It gives services and families a better understanding of a quality service,

helping families make informed decisions about the services providing education and

care to their child. The NQS brings together the 7 key quality areas that are important to

outcomes for children including; educational programs, physical environments and

relationships with children. Services are assessed and rated by the regulatory authority against the 7 quality areas

and given an overall rating.

John Brotchie was assessed in May 2020 and achieved an EXCELLENT rating, the highest awarded by

ACECQA

The NQS is linked to national learning frameworks that recognize children learn from birth. Ser-

vices are required to base their educational program on an approved learning framework. In NSW

the framework is Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Austral-

ia. At John Brotchie we highly value this framework. It has influenced our school philosophy, our

daily practice and educational program.

Page 2

John Brotchie Nursery School

John Brotchie Nursery School Philosophy

At John Brotchie Nursery School the children will feel safe and cared for. They will also have the opportunity to develop confidence and creativity in a social environ-ment. The children will learn through a play-based curriculum, which is stimulating, challenging and meaningful to their current interests, strengths and abilities. We will build upon the children’s capabilities and their natural inclination to learn. We also recognise the individu-ality and uniqueness of each child and our experiences at John Brotchie Nursery School will reflect this.

At John Brotchie Nursery School we pride ourselves on implementing a curriculum based on contemporary theories, research and early childhood pedagogy. We believe and support the principles and practices of The Early Years Learning Frame-work for Australia Being, Belonging and Becoming. We build upon the children’s independence and natural inclination to learn. Each child’s personal success and improvement is to be highly regarded and mistakes are part of the learning process and a positive step towards achievement.

We must ensure that the children’s social, emotional, physical, language and intellectual needs are enhanced through relevant

educational experiences. When planning for the children’s development we must consider each child as unique and reflect their individual style of learning and rate of development.

Secure, respectful and recip-rocal relationships: we believe that children’s wellbeing and ability to be part of a community is supported through building secure environments and relationships. At John Brotchie, we see children as capable and they learn best when they are respected, trusted, valued and interacted with in a positive way.

Partnerships: we believe that families are the first and most influential teachers in a child’s life. We will work in partnership with families to have open communication, make shared decisions, to use their knowledge and skills to guide our curriculum.

High expectations & Equity: we feel children achieve their highest potential when they, their families and educators hold high expectations. We continually strive to find equitable and effective ways to ensure that all our children have opportuni-ties to achieve. We know that children are all individual and therefore achievement is also varied and individual.

Respect for diversity: Educa-tors will honour the histories, cultures, languages, traditions, child rearing practices and life

style choices of families. Through our relationships and conversations with families and children we will reflect our re-spect for diversity throughout our curriculum.

Ongoing learning & reflective practice: Educators at John Brotchie will continually seek ways to build their professional knowledge. We are willing to trial and implement contempo-rary beliefs and early childhood pedagogy. Our educators will engage in ongoing critical reflection of our curriculum and practices to inform decision-making and therefore to achieve the best possible outcomes for our children.

Practice: The principles mentioned above underpin our everyday practice. Our educators draw on a range of strategies to promote children’s learning including:

adopting holistic approaches

being responsive to children

planning and implementing learning through play and

intentional teaching

creating physical and social learning environments that have a positive impact on chil-dren’s learning.

Capable, Confident and Creative Children

Belonging, Being and Becoming

At John Brotchie Nursery School we strive for the children, families, educators and local community to feel a sense of Belonging within our preschool setting. We value the here and now, and we respect children’s right to unhurried time to enjoy everyday experiences and to enjoy just Being! The children’s time at preschool offers unique opportunities and challenges for children to explore, learn and develop relationships. Through-out their year at John Brotchie we aim to develop dispositions for learning such as enthusiasm, curiosity, persistence, confidence, optimism, cooperation and the ability to reflect. While the children are actively engaging in meaningful learning experiences at John Brotchie, the children are Becoming more capable, competent and confident learners.

Importance of play…….

Our belief and philosophy

here at John Brotchie is that

children learn best through

well-planned play based on

their interests, experiences

and needs. Children are not

just playing rather they are

engaged in often quite com-

plex learning. The child, a

peer or a teacher can initiate

play. It can occur by them-

selves, with a peer, or with the

teachers.

Play provides a chance for the

children to develop their

physical, social, emotional,

language and intellectual

development. Through play

children can learn from their

own actions and those around

them.

Transition to school

Educators will use strategies

such as modeling, demon-

strating, open ended ques-

tioning, explaining, shared

thinking and problem solving

to extend the children’s un-

derstanding and learning.

The educators are also re-

sponsible for documenting

and monitoring children’s

learning. They will document

play provisions and projects

through wall displays and

complete individual journals.

Through daily reflection on

play provisions and observa-

tions, the educators will use

this knowledge to plan future

provisions.

Role of the Educators…... We believe that interactions

and conversation are vitally

important for learning. Edu-

cators actively promote chil-

dren’s learning through

worthwhile and challenging

experiences and interactions

that foster high-level thinking

skills.

Intentional teaching involves

educators being deliberate,

purposeful and thoughtful in

their decisions and actions.

“At John Brotchie ,

educators are

responsive to all

the children’s

strengths, abilities

and interests. They

value and build on

children’s

strengths, skills

and knowledge to

ensure they are

motivated and

engaged in

learning.”

Page 3

John Brotchie Nursery School

Your child’s whole year at John Brotchie is providing school readiness skills and assists with a

smooth transition to school.

We work in partnership with the children, families and the school educators to prepare the children for

the transition to school. We aim to assist the children in becoming secure, confident and connected to

their new schools. We will help the children to understand the traditions, routines and practices of

their new schools and help them to feel comfortable with the process of change.

Through participation in our curriculum the children will also develop the social /emotional skills,

literacy and numeracy skills necessary for school readiness.

Outdoor Education

They can observe, partici-

pate, explore, experiment,

practice and they can make

mistakes.

Children are perceived to

learn best within a hands-on

approach using concrete

materials that are integrated

throughout the program.

At John Brotchie we value the outdoors as an important place to play and learn. Our daily program

consists of equal amounts of time outside as in. The children are outside from 9am till 12noon,

playing and having lunch. Our large outdoor area is full of natural experiences for the children. This

includes a sand pit, digging patch, water play, trees to climb, animals and plants and gardens with

insects and bugs. The children at John Brotchie will get dirty and wet and encounter insects such

as mosquitos in our beautiful garden. All of the children at John Brotchie will also attend Bush

School—outdoor education in a local parklands once a fortnight

We also like to experience all weather. In winter months we ask you to pack appropriate clothes to

keep warm and dry. It’s great fun to put on gumboots and raincoats and experience a little rain !

Extra Curricular Programs…….

Across the week we run a variety of programs. These programs are extra to our everyday educa-

tional curriculum. These programs are funded by the term contributions from families.

Music: Every Thursday the children are involved in our Music program. Our music teacher

Fiz leads music sessions, which includes song, dance, games and introduction to musical con-

cepts. All the educators are involved in these classes and the teachers learn from Fiz and incor-

porate the music program into their daily music group time.

Art: Annette, our qualified art teacher, works with the children on Mondays and Thursdays. As part of

the Art program Annette helps the children develop skills such as drawing, painting and sculpting. The

children use their skills to document their interest and knowledge of what is happening in their

curriculum. As part of our Art Program the children visit the NSW Art Gallery in Term 2.

Munch and Move: Is a healthy lifestyle program for children, the program focuses on support-

ing the development of fundamental movement skills and healthy eating. Each week as part of our

Munch and Move program we introduce a fundamental movement skill for the children. Across the

week the educators work with the children by providing equipment and experiences to develop this skill.

Library: John Brotchie has it’s own well-established library that has an extensive collection of

fiction and non-fiction children’s books. Each week the children visit the library with their class to

borrow a book. During library time the children learn about library and book knowledge - authors

and illustrators, fiction and non-fiction, how to care for our books and how a library works.

Toy Library: Families can borrow and take home games and equipment. The games have

been selected to develop a variety of important preschool skills and concepts, as well as support-

ing transition to school. The toy library is open three times a term and is a great way to support

your child to develop important school readiness skills.

Cooking Program: In 2014 we introduced our cooking program in our new purpose built

kitchen. We regularly run a cooking class, where the children get to cook using produce from our

veggie patch or eggs from our hen house. With the help from parent helpers the children enjoying

cooking for their friends.

Environmental Education: On Wednesday Leesa works with the children on

anything environmental. From tending to our garden and veggie patch, to explain-

ing recycling, worm farms and composting. She also helps the children connect with nature through car-

ing for our chickens, tadpoles and stick insects. Environmental education is an important part of our

daily curriculum and implemented right across the week by all the educators.

Bush School: Is an innovative program that John Brotchie has been implementing since 2014.

Bush School is about connecting the children with nature and their local envi-

ronment. Each week, in all weather the children leave John Brotchie and walk to our Bush

School site in Sir Joseph Banks Park. The children enjoy playing with nature, bush walking,

climbing trees and a variety of other exciting things that come up on the day.

Every fortnight your child’s class will go out to Bush School right throughout the year. John

Brotchie provides all the necessary equipment for Bush School.

Page 4

John Brotchie Nursery School

Page 5

Attendance…...

Preschool Fees…….

The preschool is open Monday- Friday 9am-3pm during Public School term times.

In 2021 our attendance patterns will comply with the Federal Government’s “Universal

Access” Policy. We will be offering a 2 day / 3 day alternating fortnight.

There will be 2 choices:

Beginning of the Week - Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday and Monday / Tuesday

or End of the Week – Thursday / Friday and Wednesday / Thursday / Friday

For example: Week A you attend Mon / Tues / Wed (18 hours) and

Week B you attend Mon/ Tues (12 hours). Across the fortnight you access an average of 15 hours.

Universal Access to preschool is not compulsory. You do not need to take up the whole 15

hours, you therefore can elect to only attend 2 days.

There will be 2 choices for 2 day attendance:

Monday / Tuesday or Thursday / Friday

Clothes: Children need to

bring a change of clothes in

case they have an accident

or get wet during water /

messy play. During winter

months warm clothes, a rain

coat and gumboots.

Sun Protection: Children

need to have a John

Brotchie Hat that is kept at

preschool. Children need to

also wear clothes that cover

their shoulders and midriff.

Healthy Eating Policy:

Each day you need to pack a

healthy snack and a nutri-

tious lunch. You also need to

pack a drink bottle with wa-

ter. You need to pack your

child’s food in a cooler bag.

We have a Healthy Eating

policy that we ask you to

follow and if you are interest-

ed you can get a copy from

the office. We strive to be a

nut free preschool.

Medication: The staff will

only administer prescribed

medicines if written permis-

sion is given by the family.

Drop off and collection of

children: Preschool does

not start until 9am and finish-

es at 3pm. There is no be-

fore or after school care and

children need to be collected

by the latest at 3pm.

General Information……..

In 2011, the NSW Government introduced compulsory fees for all the Department of Education

preschools. The fees at John Brotchie Nursery School are set by the Department of Education

and collected from the school at the end of each term.

In 2020, the fees are $30 a day, there is a fee reduction for Aboriginal families or families with a

Commonwealth Health Care Card. Fees for 2021 will not be able to be confirmed until

September 2020.

There will also be an extra curricular fee, to support the cost of running our extra programs

such as PE, Music, Art Bush School and Environmental Education. This fee will be a termly fee

and the amount will be confirmed in September 2020. It was $110 a term in 2020.

John Brotchie Nursery School

Page 6

John Brotchie Nursery School

John Brotchie Enrolment Policy

Aim: At John Brotchie we provide a

quality preschool program where chil-

dren are entitled to a stimulating,

meaningful, safe and inclusive envi-

ronment.

We aim to provide an opportunity for

children to experience a prior to school

program the year before going to

school.

Explanation: We are a Department of

Education (DoE) Preschool situated

on grounds owned and maintained by

Bayside Council. As per DoE’s policy,

children attend for one year only, in the

year prior to Kindergarten.

Children are eligible to enrol for one

year, the year before they start school

and that they reside in the school’s

catchment area. Children must also

have the necessary immunisation doc-

umentation.

Process:

When the number of applications ex-ceeds availability:

children’s names will be placed on a waiting list.

the school will form a placement panel and the panel will consid-er and prioritise these applica-tions.

the principal will consult with the school community to develop specific enrolment procedures that are specific to the pre-school and which reflect the community’s profile and needs.

the placement panel will con-sist of the principal, one other staff member and a community member.

The placement panel will rec-ord in meeting minutes’ specific enrolment criteria.

As per Department policy, the placement panel will take into consideration and prioritise applications to provide access to children:

of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin,

with additional needs or,

from families who experi-ence disadvantage.

Each application is reviewed individually by the placement panel and at the discretion of the panel.

Implementation:

A Placement Panel will be formed

and will include the Principal,

School Administration Manager and

a member of the P&C (this person

must not have a child on the waiting

list).

The Placement Panel will meet at

the end of term 3 to review all appli-

cations .

An email advising your child has

been accepted and the days offered

will be sent by the end of term 3.

To accept the position you need to

pay the non-refundable administra-

tion fee by the specified date. If you

do not respond it will be assumed

you no longer require the position

and the position will be offered to

another child on the waiting list.

Families who have accepted a

place for their child will receive dur-

ing term 4 a pre-enrolment pack-

age. The forms within this package

need to be completed and returned

during the orientation meeting.

Families need to complete the

forms and attend the orientation

meeting; otherwise we will assume

that the position is no longer re-

quired. The position will then be

offered to another family on the

waiting list.

Please note:

It is your responsibility to advise the

Preschool of any changes to contact

details. If we cannot contact you, we

will assume you no longer require the

position.

If you have any concerns regarding

your application please email:

[email protected]

Att: The Placement Panel

John Brotchie Nursery School is a De-

partment of Education (DoE) Pre-

school. DoE’s policy is one year before

school and one place in a DoE pre-

school. This includes Banksmeadow

Public School Preschool, Mascot Public

School Preschool and Matraville

Solider Settlement Preschool. In keep-

ing with the purpose of DoE preschools

we will be working together to provide

places in a fair and equitable manner.

Page 7

John Brotchie Nursery School has

large, spacious, well-equipped

classrooms. Children have a

choice of experiences from the

core curriculum areas; literacy &

numeracy, dramatic play, creative

arts, technology, sensory, science

and discovery, construction,

puzzles and problem solving..

Our learning environments….

John Brotchie Nursery School

The outdoor area is the perfect

place for the children to be active

learners to explore, be imaginative

and develop an appreciation for

the natural world.

We have a designed and land-

scaped outdoor play space for the

children to play and learn in. We

also have a purpose built outdoor

kitchen for cooking classes

We are well resourced with modern

technology to challenge and

extend the children’s learning.

All our learning environments are

vibrant and flexible spaces that are

responsive to the interests and

needs of the children.

Page 8

John Brotchie Nursery School

All our teachers hold an Early Childhood Degree and our Support Staff have

many years of experience working with preschool children. We also have

above average child : adult ratios.

Rebecca Andrews - Principal

Kathyrn Wetenhall -Teacher

Glenda Avery - Teacher

Vanessa Reweti - School Learning Support Officer (SLSO)

Rachael Aston - SLSO

Elizabeth Yanez - SLSO Bush School Coordinator

Leesa Di Campli - SLSO/General Assistant

Fiz Halsey - Music Teacher

Annette Benn - Art Teacher

Joanne Leighton- School Administrative Manager (SAM)

Our Educators…….

Parent Involvement…….

We provide numerous events and ways for families to become in-volved in our preschool community:

Parent / Teacher Interviews

Parent Coffee Mornings

Parent Social Nights

Parent participation in classroom curriculum;

cooking, art, music, reading or just playing,

P&C – Parent committee

Volunteering at working bees, toy library etc…

“Building

relationships and

partnerships with

families is a core

value of the

educators at

John Brotchie.”

John Brotchie Nursery School

1361 Botany Rd Botany NSW 2019

Ph: 9316 8825

Email: [email protected]

For more information and important dates check our

website:

www.johnbrotch-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Applications for 2021 close on Friday 18th Sept 2020. The

placement panel will review all applications and send 1st

round offers out by the end of September 2020.